Oldest bonsai tree in North America turns 400

By Destinee Adams

Published May 19, 2025 at 4:37 AM EDT

Plant lovers across the globe traveled into Washington, D.C., recently to celebrate a 400th birthday of the oldest bonsai tree in North America.

Destinee Adams

Destinee Adams (she/her) is a temporary news assistant for Morning Edition and Up First. In May 2022, a month before joining Morning Edition, she earned a bachelor's degree in Multimedia Journalism at Oklahoma State University. During her undergraduate career, she interned at the Stillwater News Press (Okla.) and participated in NPR's Next Generation Radio. In 2020, she wrote about George Floyd's impact on Black Americans, and in the following years she covered transgender identity and unpopular Black history in the South. Adams was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

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Oldest bonsai tree in North America turns 400